AOL OpenAuth Is Released

OpenAuth, the AOL Open Authentication API, has been released. At the end of this morning's Web 2.0 Expo session "Bridging the Gap Between Desktop and Web", with AOL's Kevin Lawver and Gregory Cypes presenting, Kevin announced that OpenAuth has actually been operational as part of the login authentication for Ficlets.com since its launch in early March.

OpenAuth:

empowers third-party web sites and applications to authenticate AOL and AIM users through their Web Sites/Applications. An AIM or AOL-registered user can now log into a third-party Web Site/Application and seamlessly access AOL services or new services built on top of AOL services. Using the AOL Open Authentication API, external Web Sites/Applications can call AOL's Secure Login Page and get an Authentication Token once they receive permission via AOL's Secure Consent Page. Then they can use the Token to access AOL/AIM Open Web Services.

Kevin Lawver said it took under an hour to implement OpenAuth in Ficlets -- providing login authentication for 100 Million users or more with no need for additional programming by the Ficlets developers.

This is an enormously important and significant API for startups. Just as Amazon does the heavy lifting of providing a scalable infrastructure to startups through its Amazon Web Services; now AOL relieves startups of the heavy lifting of developing and managing user authentication services.

Life just got getting easier for Web 2.0 innovators!

-- Kevin Farnham
O'Reilly Media